AMIA’s goal is to improve the legislative and regulatory environment for health informatics research, practice and education through AMIA member expertise. The primary pathway through which AMIA achieves this goal is by engaging Federal Agencies and Congress on public calls for input, such as Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs) or Request for Information (RFIs).
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AMIA responses are arranged by Federal Agency and Congressional Committee.
In comments submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), AMIA applauded the agency on its thoughtful and thorough “21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program proposed rule.” AMIA advised ONC to establish an overall “share now, standardize […]
In comments submitted to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR), AMIA recommended that the Office ensure that HIPAA both requires and permits information-sharing upon patient and clinician request, as well as robust penalties for failing to deliver data pursuant to the patient “right […]
In response to a Request for Information from the National Institute for Standards and Technology, AMIA recommended that a planned project to develop a reference architecture for remote patient monitoring utilize existing mobile infrastructures and available health IT standards, such as FHIR, to improve the likelihood of success.
In response to a Request for Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AMIA urged HHS officials to focus on narrow use cases, such as CDS or eCQMs, when conceptualizing a national collaborative for health IT testing. AMIA also outlined the pros/cons of focusing on CDS versus eCQMs […]
Partnering with AHIMA, AMIA recommended that policymakers modernize HIPAA by either establishing a new term, “Health Data Set,” which includes all clinical, biomedical, and claims data maintained by a Covered Entity or Business Associate, or by revising the existing HIPAA “Designated Record Set” definition and require Certified Health IT to […]
In response to a Request for Comment from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AMIA urged the administration to seek harmonization of federal data privacy policies, while also ensuring that consumer access to and control over his or her data be the baseline for its policies.
AMIA strongly encouraged the Trump administration to leverage an existing strategy on Artificial Intelligence Research and Development (AI R&D), rather than begin from scratch. It additionally emphasized a need for federal investments in areas of strong societal importance not aimed at consumer markets, especially related to human-AI collaboration and the […]
In comments submitted to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), the AMIA questioned the constrained scope of the EHR Reporting Program, strongly recommending that it measure performance to improve CEHRT security, interoperability, and usability, and not be used simply to provide data for “acquisition decision makers.”
AMIA responded to an FDA request for input with a preliminary review of relevant research into the specific benefits and risks to health associated with software functions that the 21st Century Cures Act excluded from the definition of medical device. While some health IT applications to healthcare delivery have unambiguously […]
In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) applauded federal officials for balancing burden reduction provisions with a need to continue making progress on health IT adoption and use.